A Friend in Need
by Nightcrawlerlover
Summary: Yami learns what Ralph Waldo Emerson meant when he said that to have a friend one must be a friend.


**Author's Note: **Hey there! I was reading a story about how a person takes the time to befriend someone else and unknowingly prevents them from committing suicide. It was on the profile belonging to PurpleWildcat2010on FF dot net. It sounded pretty neat, too. So I decided to write a little oneshot with Yami Yugi as the main character. (Of course, I wanted to try copying the story (as it is one of those "copy and paste" things) and using it as... well, a journal entry that Yami would write or something, maybe).

**Title:** A Friend in Need

**Summary: **Yami learns what Ralph Waldo Emerson meant when he said that to have a friend one must be a friend.

**Rating:** G

**Feedback:** Nice reviews are very much appreciated, of course.

**Disclaimer:** Genius Kazuki Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh. I own the oneshots, songfics, poems and stories I cook up from time to time.

A Friend in Need

It was a new day in the town of Domino. Yami Yugi was sitting at his desk, his notebook diary open to a clean page in front of him. A long, yellow pencil was in his right hand. He was thinking of what to write about. He thought and thought for quite some time.

Then his crimson eyes lit up, and he then smiled to himself. It was the smile one usually wore when guarding a precious secret.

Finally, he began to write.

_Dear Journal,_

_I have seen friendship in action, and liked it too. I still do, of course. Girls usually band together when one of their friend's hearts gets broken by a guy and help her feel better. Sometimes this is accomplished by taking her on a girl's day out. Often whenever I go to the Domino Mall, I notice that there are usually some girls that travel in packs, and often look at stuff together. In my mind, girls are such different people. But they are kind of cool, too. _

_Boys, on the other hand, also bond together too, but usually over stuff that men like. After all, they usually like looking at stuff like hardware, sports stuff like baseball, hockey, basketball, and all kinds of other stuff. _

_But I digress. _

_Anyway, it's time for me to tell a tale that will always live on in my mind. It's the story of a boy I met who, although I didn't notice at the time, needed help from someone.. badly. _

_Here's the tale... of my late, great friend Kyle. _

_One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books._

_I thought to myself, **"Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd."**_

_I had quite a weekend planned (which meant parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. _

_As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes._

_My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I picked up his glasses and handed them to him, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives."_

_He looked at me and said, "Hey, thanks!"_

_There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now._

_I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes._

_We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books every day!"_

_He just laughed and handed me half the books, which I accepted._

_Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends..._

_When we were seniors we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship..._

_Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd, but in a nice way – which he told me he liked a lot. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak._

_On graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He also had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous – but other times, I didn't mind a bit. Luckily, today wasn't one of those days._

_I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I gave him a pat on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!"_

_He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. "Thanks," he said._

_As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends... I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."_

_I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later, and was carrying his stuff home. He then looked hard at me and gave me a little smile._

"_Thankfully, I was saved. My friend Yami here saved me from doing the unspeakable..."_

_I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth. Never underestimate the power of your actions..._

_With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse._

After the last word was written, Yami put his pencil down and then looked over what he had written with a bittersweet smile. Kyle had died a long time ago from cancer at the age of 37, with a smile on his face and memories of Yami in his heart. Yami had been with him until the end came and Kyle left his suffering body for a strong new life in Heaven.

To Kyle, Yami was a wonderful person that was not easily forgotten. Instead his profile stayed with that person for the rest of one's life.

"_Yami," said Kyle, his voice now sounding quite fragile, "it's time for me to go to Heaven, where I will have a new life."_

_Yami nodded. "I'll never forget you, Kyle. Best friends and buddies forever." _

_Kyle nodded. "That is exactly what I mean, Yami. I will always hold a special place in your heart and your memories as well." _

_He then looked at the gold medal around Yami's neck, which Yami had won for winning a Duel Monsters Olympics Championship. "I know you are a champion, Yami, and you are also someone who sticks with a task until it is completed, too. Be sure to wear that gold medal every day, and when you look at it, you can think of me."_

_Yami nodded. Kyle had been in the audience, cheering Yami on as Yami dueled with skill, strategy and fairness. Plus Kyle believed that Yami played fairly and always did his best in any game there was in the world. _

_And if he lost, which was some of the time, Yami usually took it in stride and often told Kyle, "Hey, losing isn't so bad. Now I know what mistakes not to repeat the next time I have a duel."_

_Kyle had agreed with him on that, and also told Yami to keep it up with dueling fairly as well._

_As Yami pulled himself out of the memories that had come back to him, he looked down at Kyle and smiled. Then he looked at the green heart monitor as it finally clicked off. Kyle was gone. _

_Yami then took Kyle's arms and crossed them Egyptian style – which, Yami knew, was how the Pharaohs had looked on their mummy cases in the Egyptian exhibits at the museums in America._

_Finally, Yami then left the hospital room, a sad smile adorning his face. His friend was gone physically from this world, but not spiritually from his heart. _

With that, Yami then smiled to himself as he remembered the funeral, and how the women who had been Kyle's dates from long ago in high school had walked up to him and given him a hug.

He knew that Kyle had needed a friend, and that he had done the right thing by being there for him when he needed help.

_Yep, _thought Yami. _Ralph Waldo Emerson was right when he said that to have a friend is to be one. _

Finally, he laid his pencil down, closed his notebook and then, after turning out the light, headed straight for bed. He had made up his mind that, if he encountered another kid who needed someone to talk to, like Kyle had been, Yami's would be that kid's friend, and help him or her no matter what.

"I have just the thing that will be Kyle's legacy," Yami remarked to himself, and felt the constant pain ease a little. It was as though Kyle was nodding in approval.

For Yami had informed him about that years before Kyle's death, and Kyle had liked the idea, saying, "It's not just me that needed a friend to talk to, Yami. I'm sure that there are others out there who need your help. I'm sure you can help them out the same way you helped me out that fateful day when I needed it, too."

**~The End**


End file.
